A fine new guitar CD from London

From October 1, 2015:

The true art of putting together a CD program is something that even some very good performers don’t always pull off. This is especially important for classical guitarists, whose selections too often lack variety of mood or rhythm. Putting a group of musical items together to build an series of emotional or technical arcs, where one piece speaks to or builds on another earlier in the program: these are things that will always enhance a well-played CG disc. The fine London-based guitarist Kazu Suwa knows that Villa’s guitar pieces are character pieces: the Preludes, the movements of the Suite Populaire Bresilienne, and even the Etudes. He’s picked three Villa-Lobos pieces with great character, and more importantly he plays each of them in a character-ful way. And he puts them in the penultimate spot, as they deserve, with just a sad, beautiful little piece by Mompou as a coda.

There are many felicities before that wistful ending. The Gran Vals of Tarrega with its famous embedded Nokia ring-tone (some day soon we’ll have to explain that bit of trivia to younger people who don’t remember flip-phones or Nokia) is a highlight. I loved the two small Milongas of Abel Fleury, and was impressed with the graceful swing Suwa brings to them. The great Choro da Saudade by Barrios Mangore is a more substantial piece, and Suwa plays it with seriousness and majesty, while he draws out the nostalgic sorrow underlying the music. Another standout is the 6th Fantasia of Fernando Sor, subtitled ‘Les Adieux’, and again Suwa has its measure.

The sound of the disc is excellent, and the production values are very high. There’s an excellent, insightful 11-page essay about the music written by Robert Matthew-Walker. This disc is highly recommended.

[cross-posted at The Villa-Lobos Magazine]

Latin music for solo violin, with a surprise ending

From November 20, 2011:

In Rachel Barton Pine's new disc of solo violin music this highly talented musician presents a variety of pieces from Spain and Latin America. Some of the music was written for the violin, both practice pieces and show-pieces written to show off the violinist's virtuosity. As well, there are arrangements of music originally written for guitar. Two well-known works in the latter category stand out. Barton Pine's own version of Albeniz's great Asturias (Leyenda) is very impressive, though I find Francisco Tarrega's Recuerdos de la Alhambra (in Ruggiero Ricci's arrangement) fits less well on the violin. Both pieces are played here with precision and strong feeling.

Technical skill is pretty much a given here, but I find the more evocative pieces of more interest than those that focus on playing lots of notes all in the right order. The three tango-related pieces, by Jose Luis Gonzalez, Jose Serebrier, and Astor Piazzolla, are alternately driving and passionate, and beautifully played. Virtuosity is always on display, but more importantly, so is musicianship of the highest order.

But wait, there's more! The disc ends with a real surprise: Alan Ridout's Ferdinand. The actor Hector Elizondo narrates the beloved Munro Leaf story Ferdinand the Bull, while Barton Pine provides the musical accompaniment that helps to make this story every bit as entertaining as the Oscar-winning Disney cartoon from 1938.

A dance to a constantly surprising refrain

From January 25, 2010:

Mats Bergstrom's new Francisco Tarrega disc on Naxos is a perfect introduction to the music of this very appealing composer. The Classical Guitar (CG) community knows this music well, of course, but the non-specialist who loves classical music might not be familiar with most of these pieces. That person would be very lucky to come across this disc!

There are exceptions, though, to the general obscurity of this music. In his excellent liner notes, Bergstrom points out one of the most well-known musical fragments in the world: the ubiquitous Nokia mobile phone ring-tone comes from measures 13-16 of the Gran Vals. Go to the Wikipedia article  "Nokia_tune" to check this out. I wonder how many people know that these 13 jaunty tones were written by Francisco Tarrega?

My favourite piece on the disc is also fairly well known: the "Recuerdos de la Alhambra". This lovely piece was on a great Julian Bream LP from the 1960s that introduced me to the classical guitar; that record also included the Villa-Lobos Preludes. It was used to great effect in Hugo Blick's superb British TV series "Sensitive Skin", where it underlined the themes of betrayal, loss, and sadness. This short work is a rare example of a piece of music whose virtuosity is completely overtaken by the mood of the piece. The music is heartbreakingly sad, and it's only when you stop and think about it that you realize how hard it must be to play! Bergstrom's version is a perfect example of virtuosity with only one aim: to communicate the music itself.

The best thing about this disc is discovering all the other moods that Tarrega can evoke in short pieces - many are only one or two minutes long. Some are adaptations of popular music by composers of the day, while others are original character pieces in the form of salon pieces: waltzes and mazurkas, especially. According to Larry Hart's great lyrics to the Rogers & Hart song "My Romance,"

My romance doesn't need a castle rising in Spain

Nor a dance to a constantly surpising refrain

Maybe not, but that's what you get in the music of Francisco Tarrega. Playing a replica of Tarrega's favourite guitar, Mats Bergstrom and Naxos (with its customary splendid presentation and engineering) together present one of the most impressive discs of classical guitar music I've heard in a very long time!